Introduction, you’re pregnant now. What? Whether you have been trying for a while or it’s a complete surprise, after you get that positive pregnancy test, it can send a panic. What are you supposed to do? What are you not supposed to do? Uh, there’s so many questions, and this video is here to help you navigate the first music trimester. I’m Dr. Laura Shaheen. I’m a double board certified OBGYN and productive endocrinologist, helping people get through the first trimester for almost 20 years, and especially my patients that have been struggling with infertility, they’ve done treatment, whether it’s an embryo transfer, IUI, or just a surprise pregnancy, it can be so amazing to finally see that positive pregnancy test, but it can also start a panic.

Topic 1, what is the first trimester?

Topic number two, we’re going to go over common symptoms of first trimester pregnancy, what’s normal and when to worry. And topic number three, we’re going to go over the five most common questions my patients ask me about the first trimester. We’re going to answer them one by one. Now stick around to the end of this article  because I’m going to give you top tips on how to really take care of yourself through this very, very special time.

how can I be four weeks pregnant?

Now, if you’ve done fertility treatment, I know that can get confusing because we often will do the pregnancy test about 10 days after an embryo transfer, and you sort of say to yourself, well, the embryo’s only been inside for 10 days, how can I be four weeks pregnant? It’s a little bit arbitrary, but just basically remember when you can first have a positive pregnancy test, you’re about four weeks pregnant. So we’re talking about that moment for the next 10 weeks until you are 14 weeks pregnant.

this first 14 weeks

When you’re 14 weeks pregnant and on, you’re getting into the second trimester and then later on the third trimester.. During this time, it is absolutely amazing.

turning into a full fledged fetus

The embryo is going from a ball of cells that’s called a blasy, it’s about 100 cells, and it’s implanted into the uterus and turning into a full fledged fetus with a heartbeat, little brain, spinal cord, gut is starting. It is absolutely amazing how much happens in this really precious time. All the organs are forming. Um, your body is changing tremendously.

it is just incredible

Your cardiac output is increased.. It is absolutely amazing, and your body is changing so much during this time, just like that baby growing. It is just incredible.

common first trimester symptoms

We’re going to talk about the seven most common symptoms. Number one, fatigue. 

I was so exhausted

So your body is changing so much. I talk to my patients about your body is actually like it’s running a marathon. Your heart is working harder. Your kidneys are working harder. Just your whole body is changing, and yet on the outside, you might look the same.

little nap, taking care of myself

And I did try to nap as much as possible, not during the work day, but man, those weekends were really, really, really, really important, and even afternoons when I got home, little nap, taking care of myself. Oh my gosh, just so, so tired. Symptom number two, smell and food aversion. Not everybody gets this, but it’s pretty common to love a certain type of food and then all of a sudden you just don’t want to see it anymore, or smells can be pretty triggering.

nausea and vomiting

Uh, it’s a pretty common thing, but not everybody will have these symptoms. Symptom number three, nausea and vomiting. I don’t know why they call this morning sickness because it can occur any time of the day or night. It’s not every pregnancy, but about 50 to 80 of pregnancies, people will report nausea and vomiting and just an upset stomach.

talk to your doctor

There’s lots of theories as to why this happens. It’s most common from week four to week nine, and very often it can get better through the second and third trimester. There are people that feel this way throughout their pregnancy.

progesterone hormone

Um, talk to your doctor about treatment options, um, but just super common symptom. And the seventh common symptom is constipation. Again, it comes back to that progesterone hormone. It’s the dominant hormone in pregnancy, and it can slow down not only gastric emptying but emptying of the rest of the intestine, so constipation is really common.

answering common first trimester questions

Hydration is important, fiber is important, moving around a little bit, like actually just walking and moving your body, helps your bowels move, and then talk to your doctor about different treatment options. Um, the third topic is answering. Topic 3, answering common first trimester questions.

five common questions

The most common questions that I get from my patients that are finally pregnant, um, there are five common questions that almost every patient asks, and so I want to answer them for you right now. Question number one is weight gain. Should I be trying to gain weight? Is it strange that I’m not gaining weight?

cramping can be a normal part of the first trimester

Like I feel like in order to have a healthy pregnancy, I got to put on weight. Well, everybody’s really different.

spotting and bleeding

Question number three, bleeding sp in, is that normal? So not necessarily normal, I would say, but about 30 of perfectly normal pregnancies that go on to deliver a beautiful baby have some sort of spotting or bleeding in the first trimester. Spotting and bleeding can be a sign of a miscarriage, or cramping, especially on one side associated with bleeding, could be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy.

So this is important to talk to your doctor if you’re having spotting and bleeding, but a lot, lot of pregnancies will have this. If you think about how much your uterus has to change, the fact that this pregnancy and the placenta are growing into the wall of the uterus, that is such a vascular organ, there’s such a great blood supply.

The uterus is absolutely amazing, and this placenta is growing into it, and of course it could hit blood vessels and there could be a little bit of bleeding. It can be a part of the normal implantation, and it’s just so nerve-wracking when you see spotting and you see bleeding, again, especially if you’ve had a miscarriage before.

Talk to your doctor, get your questions answered, but the short story is that spotting and bleeding do not necessarily mean that it’s an abnormal pregnancy. Question number four, what foods to avoid? Such a common question. So many different recommendations, and honestly, where you live in the world, there could be different recommendations.

avoid food with a high bacteria content

So I will tell you the basic understanding and what you should get is that your immune system changes drastically when you’re pregnant. Your immune system is suppressed. It’s allowing the development of this pregnancy, and with an immunosuppression, with that high progesterone and immunosuppression, you are more susceptible to bacteria on food.

So you want to avoid food with a high bacteria content in order to prevent getting food poisoning or getting sick. Um, that is the key. So foods that have a high bacteria content are uncooked foods, so avoid raw meat, raw fish. I know if you’re thinking about people in Japan eating sushi all the time, I know, but it is a higher risk for pregnant people because there could be bacteria on that sushi.

That is why it is recommended to avoid. You want to avoid unprocessed dairy, so like raw milk, raw cheeses, these things can have listeria, they can have salmonella. Listeria infection has been associated with really, really ill pregnant people and even miscarriage, so this is where these recommendations come from.

fish is important

Other things that can have high bacteria content are deli meats. Um, if you’re eating hot dogs, you really got to cook it thoroughly, and then the other thing people ask a lot about is fish.Because they’re kind of eating all these little fish that might have been exposed to it, so big fish like king mackerel, swordfish, um, big tuna, those are ones to avoid, and other fish like salmon, sardines, an chov, um, are typically safer. 

limit your caffeine intake

And question number five, what about exercise? 

exercise is important

I talk to my patients about avoiding really strenuous exercise or starting a brand new routine. You don’t want to all of a sudden train for a long-distance run like a marathon when you’ve never done that before, and all of a sudden you’re pregnant. You want to avoid, um, things that can dehydrate you, so really strenuous exercise or like hot yoga, I don’t love that because it’s so important to stay hydrated.

And if you’re really just sweating out profusely, it’s just going to be harder to stay hydrated. Um, I think about, you know, types of exercise that are high injury risk, right, so downhill skiing, um, you know, wakeboarding, uh, water skiing, just things that you could fall, you could have a really traumatic twisting.

And I just think about this pregnancy is so precious, so just think about staying healthy, moving your body, but just not too strenuous, um, but also don’t be completely sedentary, just move a little bit. Long walks, um, prenatal yoga is wonderful, um, hiking can be great, um, strength training, wonderful.

Low impact rides on your Peloton, if that’s what you enjoy. Jogging is fine, but maybe just modify how far you go and how hard you’re running. Um, talk to your doctor if you are curious about your personal situation, but exercise is important, just maybe modify.

top, top tips for the first trimester

So we’ve already gone over a lot for what to expect and all about the first trimester. We explained what the first trimester was and exactly what’s going on with your body and the developing pregnancy. We talked about what symptoms to expect and a little bit of tips on how to know if something is normal or not normal.

And we reviewed five of the most common questions that my patients ask me in the first trimester..

Remember to take your prenatal vitamin

And we don’t really need that iron typically until the second or third trimester, but the folic acid, that’s the one that you really need in that first trimester to decrease the risk of neural tube defects. Got a whole video here on how to choose a prenatal vitamin, and I go into that topic of folic acid versus methylated folate in that video.

A little too much to go into right here, but I hope these tips are helpful. And finally, you’ve got to stop some things if you haven’t already. Make sure you stop smoking and exposure to tobacco, and this means in your household too, secondhand smoke can be very harmful to the developing pregnancy.

Stop alcohol

Stop alcohol, of course. I know some people really feel that it’s probably safe, 

wishing you love, luck, and pineapples

I hope you learned conclusion something from this video today. Like this video if you did, comment with questions that you have, other topics you’d like me to cover, and